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Games Time Forgot: Deja Vu photo

Anyone who's ever listened to me wax poetic on RetroforceGo! about Shadowgate, the third title in the MacVenture series, already knows I have a hardcore love for anything with a point and click interface. Most people have heard of Shadowgate, as it was the most popular in this series. Slightly less well known is Deja Vu, originally released for the Mac in 1985 and then ported to the NES in 1990.

While Deja Vu follows the same general format as Shadowgate, the inspiration comes from forties era detective novels and noir sensibilities. It's also believed that Deja Vu may have directly inspired LucasArts in creating Maniac Mansion.Ah, point and click days, how I miss you!

Feeling intrigued, wondering if it's worth it to back in time and give this one a shot? Follow me past the jump, and I'll try to help you make your decision.

Story:

Of course, no good mystery begins with all or even half of the details, and Deja Vu shoots for just that. In the start of the game, you wake up in a bathroom stall with no recollection of who you are or how you got there. A little exploring reveals that you're in a bar called Joe's, there's a dead man upstairs in the office, and it looks like you're about to be framed for a murder you didn't commit (or at least, don't remember you committed).

Eventually, you'll discover that you're Theodore "Ace" Harding, and find yourself with no choice other than to follow a trail of clues to reveal who you are and prove your own innocence. Deja Vu is unique in that it truly challenges you to think laterally to solve some of the puzzles, something I couldn't put my finger on as a kid but really love about the game looking back in time at it.

I don't want to ruin any more of the story for you, but I'll say this: you have to go for a pretty wild ride before you'll be any closer to solving any of Ace's problems in this game!

Gameplay:

Absolutely nothing about the gameplay in Deja Vu differs from Shadowgate's (or for that matter, Uninvited's, which was the second entry in the MacVenture series). There's not too much to tell about point and click adventures: you point to things, you click em, and stuff happens.Deja Vu does have some cool inclusions such as a casino which you can actually play roulette at. The death scenes of Deja Vu are also memorable and worth getting just for the fun of it (go see them here if you like).

Even if the interface is simple, the story in this game is not only engaging but also suspenseful (and also I'd say it's much better than Shadowgate's). Since your memory loss is acute, you'll have a limited amount of time to figure out the puzzles before you end up totally losing it and hitting a game over. Obviously the game has aged, but I find I can always go back and play this game and enjoy it, even though I solved the mystery long ago.

Also, Deja Vu has excellent, moody music, which contributes nicely to the very believable state of amnesia Ace is in. Most games just throw amnesia in as a weal plot device, but it works really well here, and is detailed down to the items to examine (for instance, you may not recognize an item when you first see it, but as you unravel more of the mystery, examining the same items again will result in a different reaction).

Why you're probably not playing it:

Well, there's a handful of possible reasons: you don't like point and click games, you don't like murder mystery themes, you played Shadowgate but had no idea this game ever existed. I can't help you much with the first two, but if you really liked Shadowgate you ought to go back and give Deja Vu a shot (and Uninvited too, while you're at it). Best of all, it's easily playable on sites such as nintendo8, so you can try it without even shelling out any cash (though it's also available for 300 Goozex points, if you want a physical copy). I'd be interested to hear what your favorite of the three games are, if you've played all three -- please share in the comments!








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Colette Bennett is a Destructoid features editor from New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also a founding member of Destructoid's sister sites Tomopop, a toy lover's blog and Japanator, our anime site. Likes Nintendo DS, NES, Silent Hill series, Rhythm games, RPGs Meet the rest of the team



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23 comments | showing # 1 to 23
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Chris Carter's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:03
Chris Carter
I remember reading about this game in the same issue of Nintendo Power as Gremlins NES...

Wow...Deja Vu....
oOfnordOo's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:03
oOfnordOo
Wow that brings back memories of my Amiga 500.
I never got very far in the game but I enjoyed what I played.
Spectreman's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:11
Spectreman
* This game is amazing. I remember playing in the Phantom System. But I never completed in the 80/90s because was hard to know wich itens you need trow away before go in the police station.
ErbilT's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:15
ErbilT
I remember playing this game growing up. Figuring exactly what I needed to dump in the sewer at the end of the game was one of the most frustrating exercises I ever took part in.
Demtor's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:19
Demtor
Good call! The awesome music still echoes in my fond memories. So great.

I need to find an mp3 collection or something of the music from those games. Deja Vu, Univited and Shadowgate. Oooohh, so good. Anyone know of a good site to get the original chiptunes or something?
DrkAdonis's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:20
DrkAdonis
Love. This. Game.

Actually played through it a couple times with my roomates.
Mighty Pinto's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:28
Mighty Pinto
I picked up a copy of this game during Otronicon back in January. It's pretty decent, though out of the four MacVenture games I still list "Uninvited" as my personal favorite. I remember getting so frustrated figuring out where to go in that game that I would literally click "USE-GUN-SELF" out of spite.
Live-Free-Or-Pie's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 15:39
Live-Free-Or-Pie
I LOVE this game. Right up there with Shadowgate. Honestly, what protagonist would name their dog "Taco"? That dog should have sent him to the hospital for stitches. Also, SOCKO.
mechayakuza's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 16:34
mechayakuza
I loved this game so much as a kid (and still do). Thank you for writing this, Colette.
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 16:35
Chronic Logic
400 pound tub of lard, hah, oh man.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 16:42
Kyousuke Nanbu
My brother's a huge fan of this, he's beaten both titles numerous times.
The Trout's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 16:48
The Trout
An awesome game, one of my favs as a kid. It's criminal that the sequel went unreleased on the NES itself.
DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 16:56
DinnertimeNinja
Played the hell out of Shadowgate (my favorite of the two) and this game when I was a kid, though I didn't like Deja Vu nearly as much as Shadowgate.

I didn't even know Univited existed so I'm gonna have to play me some of that! Sounds like a good story, too.
coffeesash's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 17:04
coffeesash
I knew this article would be from you <3 This is the only one of the trio I've not played. I've played Shadowgate and Uninvited and loved them, so after your article I pretty much have to play this NAO! Shadowgate is absolutely my favourite of the two I've played, the torch music still makes me panic xD
Demtor's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 17:15
Demtor
I found a good source for really high quality soundtrack collections of some assorted NES games. The Shadowgate soundtrack in full stereo mp3 format is pretty spectacular.

Still on the hunt for Univited and Deja Vu though :(
DeadPlasmaCell's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 18:21
DeadPlasmaCell
Awesome game. I played this all the time along with "Shadowgate" and "Uninvited" good times..
rsquad's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 18:59
rsquad
One of my favorite NES games, whatever you do, don't punch the drunk! So much better than Shadowgate (which was also great).
t0pc0w's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 20:24
t0pc0w
I actually liked Shadowgate more personally, but huge fan of this series.
atastysammich's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 21:47
atastysammich
Say, that music's kinda catchy.
The Amazing Shenazin's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/20/2009 23:10
The Amazing Shenazin
I'm not seeing it on that website :(
zeroword's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/21/2009 00:01
zeroword
I played this and the sequel. Fun games. Never played any of the other MacVenture stuff. Going to have to not download them or something.
Mr Jonson's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/21/2009 00:09
Mr Jonson
the Windows 3.x version of these games were the best, complete with cutting-edge 256 color graphics!
Trekka's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/21/2009 12:11
Trekka
vNES has it on their site. Good shit yo
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